Girls for All Seasons

Sir: There are no words to describe the immense pleasure and happiness your cover story on Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave [March 17] gave me. Having seen Georgy Girl three times and Morgan! once, I can understand why the world is in love with these two fantastic artists.

SUZANNE R. FRIED Queens, N.Y.

Sir: Pity the British theater, and TIME for resorting to the Redgrave menage for a cover story. The paucity of theatrical talent is aptly illustrated in the Lynn-Vanessa Redgrave act: typical Lynn, who looks like a young Angela Lansbury, and Vanessa, who could be--well, almost anyone. Nothing outstanding about either.

Comparing the second-rate Redgraves with the American Barrymores leaves a poor taste in my theatrical mouth. Might as well eulogize the Cherry Sisters, who certainly epitomized a theatrical era.

MARY B. LEIGH-HUNT Hollywood

Sir: About the new crop of stars: I feel that the really wildly exciting thing about them is their distinctiveness as individuals and their ability to inspire creative thinking in the new movie audience. The emphasis has switched from the image (the product of a collective effort in the studio) to the real individual.

CARLI CREMEANS Wooster, Ohio

Matter of Morals or Fitness?

Sir: Adam Powell's power [March 17] has long constituted a threat to the white-power structures, and numerous attempts have been made to strip him of his power. What we have just witnessed is not a morals trial but the employment of an excuse to accomplish legally and openly what we have failed to do until now.

No longer can we clothe our prejudice in the worn-out argument that "the Irish, Italians, Poles and the Jews have made it; so can the Negro," for we have just proved that, although other minority groups can "make it" by aggressiveness and the acquisition of power, we will never permit the Negro to follow suit.

I cannot justify Powell's personal conduct, but I see our bigoted treatment of him, the symbol of black power, as a grave moral sickness.

(THE REV.) G. STANFORD BRATTON Assistant Minister

The First Baptist Church in America Providence

Sir: I am a Negro reared in the South and educated at two of America's preeminent universities. I have known discrimination in employment, cultural opportunities, day-to-day existence, and in the military.

Some responsible Negroes have bridled their tongues out of fear of reprisals and epithets and have thereby given the impression of solid Negro support for Powell and his antics. The fact is that many responsible Negroes do not wish preferential treatment for Negro violators of the law. No thinking Negro can deny that Powell is guilty of grave violations of the law, and has flagrantly abrogated his right to sit in Congress. For too long, many American whites, out of a feeling of guilt for the sins of their fathers or out of indifference to the Negro as a meaningful member of society, have looked the other way when Negroes have committed wrongs. Concomitantly, many responsible Negroes have taken advantage of such attitudes and wallowed in the mire of second-class citizenship because of the special privileges it afforded. Informed Negroes know this very well.

Powell is unfit to represent any group of people in Congress, let alone those benighted souls in Harlem, who need the most capable leadership and guidance that can be found among their numbers. ROBERT A. SMITHEY University of Wisconsin Madison

Illuminations

Sir: I met Henry Luce [March 10] only one time, in India at the World Council of Churches meeting in 1961. He had been invited by a minister of the Indian government to a dinner for Billy Graham. The food was simple, but the conversation was rich and illuminating. The most unforgettable part of the occasion was Mr. Luce. His face spoke volumes, his manner and bearing made an indelible impression. I was overwhelmed by the fullness of his words and the vast range of his knowledge. He questioned the government official about Gandhi, food and the Sikhs. He made incisive remarks about religion and at the same time displayed a fascinating, mystical reverence for an unsophisticated faith in Christ.

I am a talkative person, but that night I just listened, and I will always be glad I did, for you could not listen to a man like Henry Luce without getting a lesson.

(THE REV.) CALVIN THIELMAN Montreat Presbyterian Church Montreat, N.C.

Sir: I suppose most of the world's great and near-great--those who admired Harry Luce and those who were less than cordial --will be counted in the expressions of regret at his death. So there may be little time for the editors to note that, even among us lesser people for whom TIME was also prepared with such great care each week, there is genuine regret and a sense of emptiness.

We didn't always agree with him. I remember an incident here when students objected to what they felt was opinion represented as fact and asked Mr. Luce how he could call TIME a newsmagazine. He retorted, somewhat testily, "I invented the term; it can mean anything I want it to mean."

But, he did, indeed, invest the term journalist with a new and lofty impor tance. Those of us who practice the craft (Mr. Luce might have called it a profession) will be constantly reminded of just how important his manifold contributions were. And, agree or disagree, we are all in his debt.

HENRY A. SELIB Director of Publications Brandeis University Waltham, Mass.

Sir: I must thank TIME not only for creating an interesting, informative and accurate portrayal of the "three or thirty sides" of my grandfather, but also for getting "off its pages and into the minds of its readers" a correct image--the warm affection and informal joviality he was capable of sharing. Finally he no longer bears the formerly endured brand by the public of a press lord who, like a ticker-tape machine, can only spew forth hard facts.

The day of his death was indeed the "End of a Pilgrimage," since it ended the road of a man possessing a deep-seated faith, an unassuming countenance, and a pilgrim's progress earned through unselfish devotion to a cause--an idealistic mission that, having bettered mankind by weekly preachings for more than 40 years, will continue to do so as long as "journalism," the word he made great, continues to exist.

HENRY CHRISTOPHER LUCE Hotchkiss School Lakeville, Conn.

Swords Into Slide Rules

Sir: Your statement in "FAIR Shake" [March 10] that eliminating deferments for most graduate students "will all but eliminate graduate schools as a draft haven" demands comment. Such a policy could all but eliminate this country. The most formidable enemy facing not only this country but the entire human species is ignorance. Our survival may well depend upon whether some gifted kid is permitted to serve with brains and a slide-rule instead of with muscles and a rifle.

PAUL WILLIS

Associate Professor of Psychology Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti

Sir: I am not a draft dodger. If my country wishes me to serve after I have my Ph.D., I will be most willing to do so. But graduate students like me are not good riflemen and are intellectually and morally incapable of accepting orders without questioning them and pondering their implications. If the Army cannot beat the Viet Cong without putting men like me in the front lines, then I suggest that it will not be able to beat the V.C.s with our help. If we're that desperate in Viet Nam, then maybe we'd better pack up our marbles and go home.

R. EDWARD OVERSTREET

Purdue University West Lafayette, Ind.

Stalin's Ghost

Sir: "Author! Author!" [March 17], on dissenting writers in Communist countries, is an illuminating report on a significant development in the political and cultural climate of the post-Stalin era. Besides this cultural protest, there exists also an ecclesiastical dissent, particularly evident in the Russian Orthodox Church and among the Baptists in the Soviet Union.

The last sentence of your article needs a footnote to avoid any overly optimistic interpretation of this trend and to underline the ambiguity of the situation. It is true that Literdrni Noviny published a series, "God Is Not Completely Dead." It must be added, however, that Literdrni Noviny and other Communist cultural periodicals in Czechoslovakia have been recently subjected to rather violent attacks by Communist leaders in Rude Pravo (Red Justice), daily organ of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The tone of these critical remarks indicates that the party is not yet ready to accept either the dissent of intelligentsia or any far-reachine; dialogues between Christians and Marxists. The ghost of Stalin is still around.

(THE REV.) BLAHOSLAV HRUBY National Council of Churches Manhattan

Call for Support

Sir: I am offended by the photographs accompanying your article about the Indian elections [March 10]. Haven't we had enough in our press about sacred cows and starving children? Having just returned from five weeks in India, I find myself shocked by the continuing sameness of the negative cliches about that country. There are sacred cows, there are hungry people, but after 2,400 miles of driving and 1,500 by rail, I saw no sights so extreme as those in your photographs. What I remember most about the poverty I witnessed is the grace and dignity with which it was borne. After fewer than 20 years of independence, a great democracy is growing proudly, though painfully, into maturity. Surely it deserves our respect and support.

HELENA E. FRANKLIN Manhattan

The Big Brother Tube

Sir: British television's candor is refreshing, even as a substitute for content. But BBC doesn't quite warrant your sugar-coating endeavor [March 10].

BBC Director Greene's "assured source of income, which we can spend as we think right," as "it may be better to give intense pleasure to a small number of people than mild pleasure to a greater number," smacks of a bureaucrat's lofty disregard of the interests of those who assure that income.

The $14 license fee is mandatory for all radio-TV-set owners, irrespective of their videosyncrasies. License dodgers (of whom there are about 2,000,000) are flushed out by government post-office detection vans that patrol the streets nightly, homing in on addresses where unlicensed sets are operating. A current government proposal would raise the fine for first-offense "pirate viewers" from $28 to $140, and would require TV dealers to inform the post office of set purchasers or renters. While

BBC's program directors may not be "state controlled," the viewers certainly are.

Endure the commercials, fellow Americans, and think twice, or more, before letting Big Brother tend to your watching.

FRED BRUNER Hampton Hill, Middlesex, England

Wages of Militancy

Sir: The jailing of teacher-strike leaders in New Jersey [March 3] is symbolic of a state's not knowing how to deal with the rising tide of teacher militancy. Instead of allowing the processes of collective bargaining to work, as they have for teachers in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and scores of smaller cities, many school boards and state officials still would rather terrorize than negotiate. The A.F.T. intends to keep its militancy high until its goals are met.

CHARLES COOEN National President American Federation of Teachers Chicago

Sir: Don't the more militant members of our profession realize that as teachers employ collective bargaining, binding arbitration and strikes, they oblige school committees to counter rightfully with time clocks, hourly pay and, alas, perhaps even piecework?

Ironic, isn't it, that the very same teachers who deplore what they call their second-class citizenship are choosing a means guaranteed to ensure them that status perpetually.

LEILA B. GEMME Northampton, Mass. ^

Off We Go ...

Sir: I was shocked by "Big Boys at Play" [March 3]. Imagine supposedly grown men, up to the age of 74, flying paper airplanes. Besides being thoroughly disgusted, I have built the plane shown in your diagram. So far, I have had it up for only eight seconds.

ROBERT B. RORICK St. Louis

Sir: My five-year-old son is always asking me to make paper planes for him, but until recently, the best I could muster was about 15 feet of wobbly flight from my own designs.

With your design carefully executed, and my son watching, I launched the plane into a slight breeze. It swooped up, went over my house, over my neighbor's house, and was still going strong when I lost sight of it.

RON HEBERLEE Phoenix

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.